Written by Robin D. Laws

Foreword by John Rogers

Cover by Angelina Litvin & Jesse Orrico

• Softcover
• 6 x 9 inches
• 220 pages

Beating the Story

The most compelling stories move us emotionally. Up and down, between hope and fear, in ways we don’t always expect – you can harness that as a writer, editor, and critic. Beating the Story shows you how to track, map, and understand the rhythm of a story. 

Whether you’re writing, rewriting, or editing a manuscript, or dismantling your favorite TV episode, Beating the Story helps you understand how stories get hammered into shape.

This book consists of practical guidance on topics like conceiving your story, considering its hero, mapping its beats, writing drafts, revising, editing and even critiquing.

About the Author

Robin is the author of eight novels plus the short story collection and has edited five original short fiction anthologies. He has also designed some of our favorite tabletop roleplaying games such as Hillfolk, Feng Shui, and The Esoterrorists.

Quotes

“For writers, critics, and other dedicated consumers-of-narrative, Beating the Story is the book where Robin Laws hands you a scalpel and invites you to get up to your elbows in the bloody guts of how stories work.” —Margaret Dunlap, Bookburners and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

“A comprehensive map to writing fiction that only Robin Laws could deliver.” —Mur Lafferty, author of Six Wakes